The experience of wilderness is, in different ways, common to all three readings. They speak of a God whose love has the power to sustain, even in the heart of the wilderness. The word of God spoken by Isaiah, the personal confession of Paul, the actions of Jesus all proclaim this encouraging and sustaining message.

The wilderness experience can be a salutary one. When trials come, our perspectives can radically change, our sense of values can be upturned, what once seemed so important may no longer seem so, and vice-versa.

Such an experience can shatter many of our illusions, e.g. the illusion that we are completely in control of our lives, that our own resources are sufficient to enable us to cope with life. A crisis situation can bring home to us how small, in fact, our resources are.

Like the crowd in today's Gospel, we are forced to acknowledge how inadequate are our few loaves and fish, when faced with the task of the moment. The shattering of the illusion of independence can be the occasion for grasping anew the profound truth of our dependence on God, and the Good News that 'with God nothing will be impossible' (Lk. 1:37).